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| Home > Resources > Beverage Containers > ON Initiatives |
News from Ontario - two new initiativesTwo recent developments in Ontario’s waste management industry have quickly engaged municipalities in significant stewardship initiatives – for hazardous waste, and wine and spirit containers. Municipal Hazardous or Special Waste (MHSW) is a hot topic in Ontario at the moment. This waste stream was designated by the Minister of the Environment under the Waste Diversion Act on December 12, 2006, and work is underway to develop a program plan by the deadline of May 31 of this year. This short time frame means that work on the program plan is happening at breakneck speed. This program plan will be groundbreaking and all stakeholders such as industry, stewards and municipalities will have to work cooperatively to get all the work completed by the deadline. Information on this program is available from the following: The other significant change in Ontario is a deposit-return (D/R) system for all wine and spirit containers. As of February 5, all wine and spirit containers sold in Ontario have a 10¢ or 20¢ deposit, depending on the size of the container. This was announced by the provincial government in September of last year, and came as a bit of a surprise to municipalities. The interesting part of this program is that the containers are not returned to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) stores where they were bought, but are accepted by The Beer Store (TBS), a non-government operation, under contract to the LCBO to provide recycling service. According to TBS, it already handles a good percentage of the (beer) containers from the LCBO, and given that surveys found that approximately 80% of customers go to both stores, piggybacking on an existing D/R infrastructure made sense. While this D/R program is a benefit overall, there is uncertainty as to the impact to the Blue Box program. In the interim, the LCBO is committed to continuing its $5 million stewardship contribution to municipalities in 2007. Information on this program is available at the following link: Remember, if anyone is ever looking for any information on what is happening here in Ontario, feel free to contact Clayton Sampson. Email him at csampson@county.oxford.on.ca or phone 519-539-9800 ext. 3114. [Source: February 2007 WasteWatch]
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